Education of Oscar Nominees 2009

Marcus Varner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:19:10 +0000

With this year’s batch of Oscar nominees, it’s time to scrutinize their early education roots. After all, these are the folks we look to as our on-screen heroes. When they get up and speak, our news media pays attention, endowing then with some kind of credibility, deserved or undeserved. For some inexplicable reason, we think they are more entitled to speak and be heard than the rest.

So, let’s see what their educations reveal: head of the class or class clown? This is our Education of Oscar Nominees 2009:

Heath Ledger
Nominated posthumously for his chilling performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, Ledger attended Mary’s Mount Primary School in Perth, Australia and then Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting gig at age 10 as Peter Pan. He was very successful at dance choreography and chess, winning the Western Australia junior chess championship.

Kate Winslet
At age 11, this perennial Oscar nominee and winner began studying drama at the Redroofs Theatre School. She was head girl at the co-ed school in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where she received a lot of negative attention as a teenager for being overweight and having overly large feet. As she appears stark naked in most of her films nowadays, it appears Winslet has overcome any insecurities brought on by said bullying.

Robert Downey, Jr.
Brought back to life in 2008 from the celebrity drug addiction graveyard, this Iron Man grew up in a filmmaking household. His father was an actor, producer, writer, and director of underground films. Growing up in Greenwich Village, NY, Downey attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate NY. When his parents divorced, he went to CA with his father where he dropped out of Santa Monica High School to, of course, pursue acting full-time. So, he’s obviously not the prodigy inventor he portrays, but he sure loves acting.

Danny Boyle
Before he directed edgy films like Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Sunlight, and 28 Days Later, this film director actually considered becoming a priest. He was discouraged from pursuing that career path by a priest. He went on to study at Thornleigh Salesian College and University of Wales, Bangor. With a best director Oscar in his grasp, it looks like the film thing worked out pretty well, and he doesn’t have to worry about wearing those uncomfortable-looking robes.

David Fincher
This Benjamin Button director grew up in Marin County, CA, before moving to Ashland, OR, in his teens. From the age of 8, he began shooting films on an 8mm camera. Cool trivial tidbit: before directing Seven, Fight Club, and Zodiac, Fincher worked for the granddaddy of special effects studios, Industrial Light and Magic, working on films like Return of the Jedi and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Caaalllliii maaahhhh!). His first directing gig was Aliens 3. Betcha didn’t know that.

5 Most Star-Studded Colleges

Marcus Varner — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:14:43 +0000

Nearly every college out there has its token celebrity. Some colleges, however, put out an uncanny number of them. We researched lists of notable alumni at the nation’s colleges and counted how many really famous stars each has put out. Following is our top five, star-producing schools:

1. New York University – Boasting more Academy Award winners among its alumni than any other university, NYU has long been an incubator for future film and TV stars. Check out this impressive list of alumni (and this doesn’t count lesser known but still successful stars): Alec Baldwin, Kristen Bell, Selma Blair, James L. Brooks, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, Bridget Fonda, Gina Gershon, Whoopi Goldberg, Anne Hathaway, Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bryce Dallas Howard, Felicity Huffman, auteurs Ang Lee and Spike Lee, Debra Messing, Jerry O’Connell, Ashley Olsen, Mary Kate Olsen, Haley Joel Osment, Meg Ryan, Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Martin Scorsese, and M. Night Shyamalan. Also among alumni are recording super-mogul Clive Davis and 67-and-still-sexy Neil Diamond. Whew!

Rumor has it that just enrolling at NYU increases your chances of becoming a star by a couple hundred percent.

2. Harvard University– Coming in a distant second place, Harvard U apparently isn’t just about that stuffy law and business stuff. Their alumni include: Tatyana Ali, The Fountain director Darren Aronofsky, The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, Tommy Lee Jones, Jack Lemmon, John Lithgow, New World director Terrence Malick, Conan O’Brien, Natalie Portman, Elisabeth Shue, Mira Sorvino, and Glory director Edward Zwick.

3. Columbia University – Not counting two presidents, six Supreme Court Justices, four Founding Fathers, and many senators, Columbia has produced more than its fair share of successful stars. Ben Stein, Amanda Peet, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Matthew Fox, Julia Stiles, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Ed Harris, Jake Gyllenhaal, and hip hop songstress Lauryn Hill have passed through its prestigious halls.

4. University of Miami – Perhaps the most unexpected of the top five, Miami has put out a decent number of movie, TV, and recording stars. Alumni include: veteran Charles Grodin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ray Liotta, Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Estefan, rock musician Ben Folds, and singer Enrique Iglesias.

5. University of Southern California – Coming in at a disappointing fifth spot, despite a prestigious film and TV program, the Trojans are still better than most. They have produced funny man Will Ferrell, prolific film composer James Horner, Star Wars creator George Lucas, comedian John Ritter, the Man himself John Wayne, and Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker.

Honorable mentions go to:

- Cal State Long Beach: Steve Martin and director, mega-mogul, and definer of a generation, Steven Spielberg

- Stanford University: Jennifer Connelly, Ted Danson, Sigourney Weaver, and Reese Witherspoon

- Princeton University: Dean Cain, Coen brother Ethan Coen, David Duchovny, Brook Shields, and Jimmy Stewart

- University of Washington: James Caviezel, saxman Kenny G, father of all cinematic martial arts coolness, Bruce Lee, and Julia Sweeney

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Education & Careers » Hollywood

Education of Oscar Nominees 2009

5 Most Star-Studded Colleges